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Saturday, June 9, 2012

Fish Person

I don't know when it happened, exactly, but I've become a fish person. I don't know if that's along the same lines as being a 'cat person' or a 'dog person,' or whether it's in a different category altogether. Like maybe you can either be a 'hamster person' or a fish person. I think that would be okay, because I definitely like fish better than I like hamsters. When I was in kindergarten, my family volunteered to keep the class hamsters over some break (I forget which one), and it involved a lot of biting and running around chasing hamsters. The hamsters were the ones doing the biting, not us. Although I think my mom was probably ready to do some biting by the time we caught the hamsters. I've had several fish and have never had to chase any of them down.

Right now, I have two goldfish: Angelo, who is small and white and before he got the job as my pet was doing a gig as a table decoration at a friend's graduation party; and Cc, whom I got from the State Fair (I happily relieved my friend who actually won the game of the fish he did not want). People are generally impressed that he is still alive when the hear where I got him. Cc now sits on my desk at work, and has been received surprisingly well at the office. One of the web designers informed me that he and Cc were "getting to be pretty good friends now" and that he was going to take him for a walk later. I wasn't sure what to make of that. Cc seemed okay with it, though. I caught another (not-so-well-intentioned) workmate terrorizing my poor fish by holding his canned tuna up the bowl and telling Cc, "This is gonna be you. This is your cousin."

But the best reaction Cc's gotten so far has been the geeky suggestion that I start telling people that there are really two fish in the bowl, Cc and Bcc, but that you can't see Bcc. I've told that story at every opportunity since then.

A couple of days ago, I took it upon myself to become a better fish owner and read up on goldfish. There are far more varieties than I ever imagined, and I learned that they eat pretty much anything. They're non-aggressive, social, and actually make friends with each other, which I thought was really sweet. I also began to foster this desire to invest in an aquarium.

I'm serious about this. And unlike my incessant requests for permission to buy a bird, my mother didn't shoot this idea down right away. In fact, she spent her Friday night shopping aquariums with me. I may have been imagining it, but she almost sounded like she was into the idea by the end of the evening. She informed me that she would have to be allowed to help pick out the fish.

Angelo and Cc (Common Goldfish) will both go in the fancy new glass box, of course, but I also want a Pompom, and I've got my eye on the Ryukin and the Moor as well. See? Look at all of these fancy goldfish words I know!

My favorite part of setting it all up is going to be decorating it. I get really giddy just looking at all the fish tank decorations in Petsmart and Petco. Shipwrecks, ruins, bridges, even Spongebob's pineapple and Squidward's Easter Island head (or whatever that is). Not to mention all the fake plants in all manner of unnatural colors (because as long as it's fake, who says it has to be green?). I will post pictures when I get it all set up, but it probably won't be for another couple of months. I want to by a nice camera first. So when I do take pictures, they will do the aquarium justice.

He who says, "Nothing is impossible" has never tried to photograph a goldfish.